[lefty]

I am going out of my mind! I was dx in Aug., of 2010 with rsd to my upper extreminty. I had an on the job injury in 2008 then had two surgerys. The first was in 2009 to shorten my ulnar bone in my forearm. The second was to fuse a bone in my thumb. Jumping ahead a bit, in Aug., I was dx with rsd by three doctors. I had three Stellate Ganglion Blocks done with the last one being in Dec.

WC had me to see a forth doc who said that I did not have rsd, but he also said that I wasn't at Maxium Improvement. The hardware I had failed and was very painful so I had surgery to have it removed last week.

After the block wore off the next day, I was ready to rip off my soft cast and chop my arm off the pain was so bad!!! I was taking Norco every two or three hours with very little relief.

Today I had my post-op appointment with my surgeon. The nurse couldn't get that crap off my arm fast enough!!! Tears were pouring down face, my fingers look like red sauages, my forearm was swollen and burning.

The surgeon wouldn't take out the stiches because of the swelling and pain.
Again he said that I have rsd. He put in a call to my pain doc and on the 17th I will have a brachical plexus block.

Has anyone has a brachical plexius block done? I so regret having this surgery!!!! But I had little to no choice. I hope now WC will realize that do have rsd!!!

[Jomar]

Hmm, I hope you can get it all figured out.

I thought the suggested /preferred way for surgeries with RSD already , was to do a block of some sort right before the surgery.
Supposedly it helps to help stop the nerves /pain from over firing from surgery.

I'm sorry you have to wait until the 17th to get the block.
Seems they could squeeze you in ... I'll never understand some of the red tape garbage...

They really should have gotten approval for a block before any surgery.

[gabbycakes]

Originally Posted by lefty

I am going out of my mind! I was dx in Aug., of 2010 with rsd to my upper extreminty. I had an on the job injury in 2008 then had two surgerys. The first was in 2009 to shorten my ulnar bone in my forearm. The second was to fuse a bone in my thumb. Jumping ahead a bit, in Aug., I was dx with rsd by three doctors. I had three Stellate Ganglion Blocks done with the last one being in Dec.

WC had me to see a forth doc who said that I did not have rsd, but he also said that I wasn't at Maxium Improvement. The hardware I had failed and was very painful so I had surgery to have it removed last week.

After the block wore off the next day, I was ready to rip off my soft cast and chop my arm off the pain was so bad!!! I was taking Norco every two or three hours with very little relief.

Today I had my post-op appointment with my surgeon. The nurse couldn't get that crap off my arm fast enough!!! Tears were pouring down face, my fingers look like red sauages, my forearm was swollen and burning.

The surgeon wouldn't take out the stiches because of the swelling and pain.
Again he said that I have rsd. He put in a call to my pain doc and on the 17th I will have a brachical plexus block.

Has anyone has a brachical plexius block done? I so regret having this surgery!!!! But I had little to no choice. I hope now WC will realize that do have rsd!!!

Hi Lefty,

Wow, I totally feel your pain and situation. I have had major arm/elbow surgery including ulnar nerve surger and almost lost the fight, but thank god I literally stumpled upon a place called HSS and 2 doctors a pain doctor and a elbow surgeron worked together to put me back together.

But yes I did have a BPB. Mine was done for a different reason. It was used and called an Interscalene BPB. It was run continous after my ulnar nerve surgery and contracture release surgery. I had to be put in a CPM Machine right after surgery so movement could begin immediately so I would not grow massive amounts of scar tissue which would block my range of motion. There was not a medication that would allow me to handle the pain of immediate movement after a surgery such as I had so they had no choice but to get my arm completely numb for the first 3-4 days while I was in the hospital. It was not a painfull procedure and you won't feel a thing once it starts to work. But I'm not a doctor so I don't know what your doctor might be trying to use this procedure for. I would ask what is this block suppose to accomplish?

I wish you the best of luck. I was in a terrible situation with my arm/elbow and thought I would never use my arm again. But once I found the right doctors I finally got put in the right direction. Today I am on disability but I do work PT doing what I did all my life, I go to the gym, I can't do everything, and are limited in some ways, so it does get better. Just a little hint when I was going doctor to doctor trying to get the correct answers I discovered that hand/arm/elbow specialist was really the type of doctor I should be seeing not just a plaine orthopedic surgeon. That was one of my mistakes.You stated that your injury is in your forearm. Hand Surgeons study from the elbow to the tip of the fingers and it's a complicated area to work on. It should be a Hand Surgeon who caters to that area of the body. The ulnar nerve runs right through that area and only a very trained doctor will know what to do. I went through 2 before I found the correct one. I even saw the doctor who worked on Mark Bordeurs elbow and he even made it worse. Mark Bordeur is the goalie for the NY Devils Ice Hockey Team. I live 70 miles from NYC and all my doctors are there which is a blessing but sometimes not because of the distance.

What area of the country do you live in? My doctor is a famous elbow surgeon and is head of clinical research for the facility he works out of and I have read many of his studies. I notice when all the researchers are listed in the study that many of the doctors are from all over the country maybe you could get a second opinion.

I wish you the best. Believe me Lefty I thought at one point when I was going through what you are I was just going to die but I kept plugging along through all my tears and finally I got success and then I started to get better. But it took time and infinite patience which I don't have a lot of.


Gabbycakes

[mjl1261]

My husband cut his ulnar and median nerves with his table saw in Aug. '08. Had to have nerves grafted out of his leg to repair the damage. He developed RSD in his hand, had the burning pain, swollen fingers, discoloration and temperature changes (usually varying degrees of cold) in his fingers...

He was prescribed gabapentin for the pain going from 3 x 300 mg/day to 3 x 1200 mg/day plus physical therapy 3 days a week. He also had three nerve blocks, one BPB and two stellate ganglions. He didn't get much pain relief but the circulation in his fingers was normal (i.e. warm fingers) for 18-24 hours after each.

At the time, he insisted that the blocks didn't help and refused to have more but the fact is, we really don't know what those blocks might have "reset" somewhere. He is currently in complete remission but no one can say if it was the blocks, the PT, the drugs, a combination of all, or even none that got him to that point.

From his point of view, he would probably say it's worth a shot to have a block. His doctor said that some patients have many before they see any real relief. Some on this forum say the blocks are painful and caused their RSD to spread. I don't doubt them for a second, but it wasn't the case with my husband. For him there was no downside to the blocks. Just not enough upside either to make him willing to continue them.

I will say that he worked like a dog on his PT. He did his exercises every single evening without fail, even though it was extremely painful, and did not take a single day off -- even Christmas. He does them to this day. My own feeling is that this is what helped more than anything else. Plus the fact that his doctors were on top of it and diagnosed him the second his splint came off.

I wish you the very best of luck and hope you'll keep us posted.

[dreambeliever128]

The best way I found to deal with a block before the surgery is to talk to the Anesteologist before you go into the surgery. Everyone that I have talked to has done the block I ask for. The Dr. may forget to ask the anesteologist for it.

They filled one area with lidocaine since it was on my neck and it was too high for a block.

I also get lidocaine injections for the pain areas and it does help. It sometimes takes more then one and some don't last as long as the others but we soon get it calmed down. You might ask your Dr. about this.

I have had ulner nerve surgery, triggerfinger, 2 rotator cuff surgeries, 3 pelvic surgeries, several others. The only time I had a problem was with the surgeries done at our local hospital that isn't up to date on anything.

Hope you find some relief soon.

Ada

[Lisa in Ohio]

Hi Lefty, Yep I have had two of these for two of my arm surgeries. I took and one did not. The one that worked really bothered me because my arm just felt like a piece of dead meat but since I had no feeling in it, there was no pain while it worked. Good luck, Lisa

[Millerprof]

That seems like a long time to wait to get a block--could you call them and see if they would move it up? The pain clinics I have worked with have always been willing to do one with RSD patients in a timely manner (never more than a day or two wait).

I'm hoping getting the hardware out eventually helps in your recovery. My RSD seemed to get much better after I had the screws removed from my foot.

[Sonny1]

Originally Posted by lefty

I am going out of my mind! I was dx in Aug., of 2010 with rsd to my upper extreminty. I had an on the job injury in 2008 then had two surgerys. The first was in 2009 to shorten my ulnar bone in my forearm. The second was to fuse a bone in my thumb. Jumping ahead a bit, in Aug., I was dx with rsd by three doctors. I had three Stellate Ganglion Blocks done with the last one being in Dec.

WC had me to see a forth doc who said that I did not have rsd, but he also said that I wasn't at Maxium Improvement. The hardware I had failed and was very painful so I had surgery to have it removed last week.

After the block wore off the next day, I was ready to rip off my soft cast and chop my arm off the pain was so bad!!! I was taking Norco every two or three hours with very little relief.

Today I had my post-op appointment with my surgeon. The nurse couldn't get that crap off my arm fast enough!!! Tears were pouring down face, my fingers look like red sauages, my forearm was swollen and burning.

The surgeon wouldn't take out the stiches because of the swelling and pain.
Again he said that I have rsd. He put in a call to my pain doc and on the 17th I will have a brachical plexus block.

Has anyone has a brachical plexius block done? I so regret having this surgery!!!! But I had little to no choice. I hope now WC will realize that do have rsd!!!

I recently have been Dx with CRPS. I have had 10 upper extremity surgeries (including fusions in thumbs and hardware removal plus many more) my right hand after the last surgery (07/2010) had to be recasted 2 times because of the swelling/redness. thumb never healed right after that & now needing those Stellate ganglion blocks. any advice on that? did you think the original surgeries were a mistake or the blocks? I really haven't been able to get anyone to comment or explain procedure to me. sorry i hogged your thread about me...i would be interested in hearing about this other block you mentioned as well.

[mjl1261]

Originally Posted by Sonny1

I recently have been Dx with CRPS. I have had 10 upper extremity surgeries (including fusions in thumbs and hardware removal plus many more) my right hand after the last surgery (07/2010) had to be recasted 2 times because of the swelling/redness. thumb never healed right after that & now needing those Stellate ganglion blocks. any advice on that? did you think the original surgeries were a mistake or the blocks? I really haven't been able to get anyone to comment or explain procedure to me. sorry i hogged your thread about me...i would be interested in hearing about this other block you mentioned as well.

Here are some FAQs about stellate ganglions:

http://www.reddinganesthesia.com/SGB%20FAQs.htm

I only found very technical sites for the brachial plexus, although I only had time for a brief search. If you just google the terms, you'll learn more than you ever wanted to know!